The Phebe Para Medical School in Suacoco District, Bong County is currently undergoing an accreditation process at the school by the Netherlands-based International Federation of Nurse Anaesthetists (IFNA).
When completed successfully, the Phebe Para Medical School will be the first in Africa to be accredited by that international body, giving the institution an opportunity to receive grant and other exchange programs.
Speaking to a team of reporters recently at the school, the Coordinator of the Anaesthetists Program, William M. Farsah, disclosed that the program was established in the 1970s at the grassroots level with few persons knowledgeable about it.
He said his greatest excitement is the pride that he has about the method of looking at anaesthetists to improve the health delivery system in the country.
Farsah described anaesthetists as “people who provide medication during surgery” to avoid pain, noting that with a population of 4.5 million persons, the country currently has less than 80 persons who are trained to provide such services.
He stressed that by 2020 Liberia needs to have over 400 anaesthetists.
Farsah said a team from the Netherlands has come to see what Phebe has done over the years, including the development of the Anaesthetists program curriculum which, he said, must be at international standard before the school is accredited.
In remarks, the head of the team from the Netherlands put the program’s accreditation into three phases: firstly to know what the institution is, secondly to know what it does and finally to accredit the institution.
The team leader said the accreditation process will last for three days, adding that he is very impressed to see the Phebe Para Medical School’s Anaesthetists curriculum to be compared to what they use in the Netherlands, noting that the benefit for the school is firstly recognition.
He said what he hopes to see following the accreditation process is patients being placed in good hands at Phebe and other hospitals across the country because, according to him, there are always complications during surgery if there is no good anaesthetists.
